Page 46 of Artifacts

“He needs to answer questions and undergo medical triage,” a uniformed officer replied from the middle of the bustle.

“Both of which he can do perfectly well outside,” Elliot snapped.

Things went a little hazy on the short walk through the building, but Aldric did feel better in the fresh air, even with questions being asked of him from all sides, making him swing his head around to answer. Elliot, next to him, backed him up, stressing the plan they’d all concocted. Aldric wondered what Elliot was doing there, but the similarity of this night to the one when he’d been attacked in the alley made him suppose Elliot was notified of any trouble in his safety deposit vault.

A police jacket appeared around his shoulders and a plastic chair was found for him. Darrell didn’t get either, Aldric noticed, so he pulled him down onto the seat, as small as it was, and tucked half the jacket over one of his shoulders. That caused a silence. Everyone stopped talking and froze, the scene illuminated by the blue light of the emergency vehicles parked in the lot.

“What was I doing?” Darrell was addressing not just his partner but the group of cops, Aldric felt. “I came to back up Aldric. I realized whathewas doing and wasn’t about to let him go through with this on his own.”

Aldric focused on Elliot rather than sweeping his gaze over the police officers, because the range of looks on their faces was narrow and none of them was positive.

“I should have guessed there was another step to your plan,” said Elliot. “It seems Darrell knows you better than I do.”

“That right?” Sean asked, glancing from the other officers to Darrell. “Darrell?”

“I should hope so.” Darrell slotted his fingers through Aldric’s, as he’d done inside the depository room. “Considering he’s my boyfriend.” He nudged his head into Aldric’s. “Aren’t you?”

For a moment, Aldric couldn’t speak. His heart was thumping too loudly and too far, filling his whole body. He had to wait for it to calm down to speak. “Yes.”

And that was it. Just one little word, but with such huge implications, and one that they were starting right here, with Darrell’s fellow officers as witnesses. “It’s not going to be easy,” he muttered, understanding something of what Darrell was setting in motion, but only able to guess the impact it would have on all areas of his life. Darrell would know its weight, though. He’d said he needed more time, but life didn’t always allow a person what they wanted at their own pace.

Aldric felt humbled. Had Darrell been thinking things over since Aldric had left him, like Aldric had nonstop?

“Oh, I know that.” Darrell stood slowly and swept his gaze over the milling police officers and beyond them, as if taking in the city, the place he lived, and where his family did too, but when he swung back to Aldric, the light in his eyes was just for him. “Boy, do I. You’re bossy, for one thing. And for another, I think I’ve got at least one rib broken this time.”

“When you saved me?” The memory came back, Darrell jumping in front of the bullet that had been aimed at Aldric. “You took a bullet for me!” he cried.

“Aldric?” Elliot’s voice quivered.

“Well, you saved me right back,” Darrell replied. “You tricked them and slipped me a gun and took one of those thugs out with a goddam statue, for Christ’s sake!”

Aldric raised an eyebrow at Darrell. At hisboyfriend. “Did you just almost quotePretty Woman? Because the actual word they use isrescue. ‘She rescues him right back.’”

Darrell started to laugh, only to stop, groan and clutch his side. “Yep, definitely broken,” he judged.

This caused a flurry of activity, Darrell taken off to the ambulance, and the EMT insisting on examining him. “You owe me for this, babe,” he mouthed at Aldric over their fussing.

“Hey.” Sean was standing there before Aldric could reply. “Look, I’ll get straight to it. I don’t know how to react to this.” He waved a finger between his partner and Aldric. “I don’t know how anyone at the station will.”

“I can guess.” Darrell winced as he tried to slip his shirt back on. “SAPD isn’t a beacon of tolerance for any kind of minority.”

“Then why?” Sean demanded.

“Because I’m more afraid of losing a chance with Aldric than I am of what people might say or do.”

“But you only just met him.” Sean sat on the edge of the ambulance, looking from Darrell to Aldric. “It’s what, love at first sight?”

Darrell laughed, then groaned. “Ow. Ribs. Would it make it better if it was? I don’t know, Sean. Do you know, Aldric?”

Aldric thought about it.Love.They’d barely just met each other! He considered all the things he knew about Darrell and all the things he liked about him. They were one and the same. And Darrell had felt strongly enough about him to take that frightening, life-changing step forward. But was that love?

“I think that’s what grows. What blooms. Maybe. With luck. But first you have to give the seeds a chance,” Aldric suggested.

“And all I know is I want a chance. I don’t expect everyone to understand or, God knows, approve, but, Sean…” Darrell shrugged. “I have to try.”

Was Sean going to say he didn’t want to be Darrell’s partner any longer? Could cops do that? Aldric had no idea and it wasn’t as though he could ask any of the officers on the scene for information. They were starting to show signs of leaving anyway, with their attackers gone, either in an ambulance or a police car.

It made Aldric aware that this was far from the end, though. They’d solved the case but set so much more in motion. Randa Buckman would be charged with several crimes, which would make the news. He sighed.

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